friend/PT says no 5x 5

faeriewings1

So, last night I was telling my friend who is a lecturer in Fitness that I was doing 5x5. He was concerned that I was putting too much strain on my body/joints saying that 5x5 was for powerlifters, in no way a beginners program, was working on strength not mass and suggested I did 3 x 8-12, saying the higher reps would create more definition but without the strain on my body. He was nice about it and said as my friend if I am motivated by 5x5 and enjoying it, why not, but professionally he would tell me not to do it.

So I'm now a little confused as to whether I should continue with 5x5 or change to 3 x 8-12 (with a lighter weight, heavy but obviously enough to be struggling on the 8-12th not the 5th). I like to think I should respect and listen to someone who is a professional and has experience and knowledge, but I have also made so good gains and enjoyed 5x5. I've been reading up on 5x5 vs 3x8 this morning and there seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions.

On the up side he was totes impressed with my current weights

I guess I'm just wondering what others think?

tameko2

3x8-12 is old school thinking. Its *fine* but not really necessary, and honestly, lower reps are for strength, higher reps are for body building/muscle endurance. <-- that's a hyper ROUGH generalization, and both groups should do BOTH because bodybuilders (who aren't using steroids) need to add strength, and powerlifters should add at least some endurance.

In terms of strain on your body, I think I flat disagree with him, although I'm sure he has more professional qualifications than I do (because I'm not a fitness industry professional, just a fitness nerd). A 10-12 rep range is EXHAUSTING - and exhaustion leads to form collapse, which leads to injury. Notice that he's recommending the same number of total reps or even MORE than 5x5 -- 5x5 is 25 reps, 3x8-12 is 24 to 36 reps total. And with 5x5, you rest every 5 reps for 3ish minutes (or more!) whereas with 3x8 you rest every 8. Which means 12 total minutes of recovery vs 6. See how, in my mind, the higher rep range is much MORE likely to cause injury/strain?

Also - did he know what exercises you were planning to do? Squats are EXHAUSTING and the form is VERY tricky to get down. Doing 10 reps before you're pretty comfortable with them - comfortable enough to notice when your form starts to go and stop - is not a good idea. If you were doing machine work, or dumbbell work, then yeah. 3x8-12 is a popular range for those.

Now if he said 3x5 I think maybe he'd have an argument, but instead he said 5x5 is for powerlifters, not a girl ... i mean, beginner like you. Girls can be powerlifters, and I'd guess he's not that familiar with powerlifting specifically because the two most highly recommended beginner programs for powerlifting are SL5x5 and SS (which is a 3x5 program).

Ok so, all that said, I don't think he had enough information to give you a considered opinion so you can certainly talk to him about the reasons behind sets of 5. You may also find these beneficial, although they are specifically about muscle growth and bodybuilding they touch on strength as well.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/reps-per-set-for-optimal-growth.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/maximal-strength-training-for-bodybuilders-qa.html

faeriewings1

thanks for your informative reply Tameko, and for the references, which I read and made a lot of sense.

I guess because I don't know any of the 'science' behind 5 x5 and/or lifting in general I couldn't put across to him any valid reasons for 5 x5 at the time. He was very surprised that I was rarely sore from doing 5 x5, which I'm not. You are right, he is suggesting doing almost the same amount of reps, just in a different pattern, so I can see why I might get more fatigued doing 8 reps and above instead of 5 with longer rests.

I will persist with 5 x5 then and hopefully prove him wrong when he see's my great definition and build in a few months

Once again thank you for your reply